America's Cup: What to expect tomorrow

Photo / ACEA 2017 / Ricardo Pinto

The forecast for Day 2 (Races 3 and 4) of the 35th America's Cup is good for racing, with the wind predictions for the Great Sound similar to day 1.

The easterly wind pattern continues but with a little more consistency predicted. Slightly higher overall wind strengths compared to Day 1 and, perhaps, up to the range where both teams will consider their higher wind packages. However, when the wind comes from the east on the Great Sound it is unreliable (as we saw on Day 1) and it could be a risk to go for the smaller foils if the wind drops out. In addition, the air temperature is forecast to reach the high 20s Celsius in the afternoon and this will increase the risk of breeze "drop-outs" where there are lulls that could be a risk for the yachts to stay on their foils.

The PredictWind models for race start time are as follows:

PWG: 9-11 knots
PWC: 10-13 knots
GFS: 10-11 knots
ECMWF: 10-14 knots

It will be interesting to see if Team Oracle USA sticks with their light winds package - which they were slower with than Emirates Team New Zealand on Day 1 - or if they will change out to their higher wind configuration and hope the breeze stays up and that they are more competitive.